Chef Isabel
All Cremat de Vilanova
All Cremat de Vilanova is Catalan boat cooking: garlic taken dark in olive oil, then tomato, fish stock, and firm fish, no potato, just a broth with nerve.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Marmitako Vasco
Created by
Marmitako is Basque fishermen's spoon food: bonito del norte, potatoes, pepper, tomato, and choricero pulp in a broth thickened by breaking the potatoes, not slicing them.
Soups & Stews
Spanish
Comfort Food
One Pot
Outdoor Dining
25 min
Active Time
45 min cook•1 hr 10 min total
Yield4 to 6 servings
Marmitako is Basque, from the fishing towns that know bonito del norte best. It is a potato pot before it is a fish stew: onion, green pepper, tomato, choricero pepper, potatoes, and bonito added only at the end so it stays juicy. That is what makes it marmitako and not just tuna cooked in broth.
The method that decides it is the potato. You don't slice it cleanly. You cut partway in, then snap the piece off with the knife, cascar la patata, so the rough edge releases starch and thickens the broth while it simmers. A neat cube behaves too politely. A broken potato gives the pot its body.
Use bonito del norte in summer if you can get it. If you're far from the Basque coast, no hace falta haber pisado España: buy fresh albacore tuna steaks, or good yellowfin at a pinch, and cut them thick so they don't dry out. Choricero pepper paste is worth finding; if not, use soaked ñoras scraped from their skins. The flavour will be a little softer, but the dish still knows where it belongs.
Once the potatoes are tender, turn the heat low and let the bonito finish in the heat of the pot. Boil it hard and you've made it dry. Let it settle five minutes and the broth turns glossy and red-gold, with the potato edges just starting to melt. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Marmitako belongs to the Basque coast, where arrantzales, the fishermen, cooked it aboard their boats in a marmita, the sturdy pot that gives the dish its name. Bonito del norte is a summer catch in the Cantabrian Sea, and potatoes made the meal filling enough for work at sea without needing many ingredients. The choricero pepper, dried and scraped into the sofrito, is one of the Basque signatures of the dish, giving sweetness, colour, and depth without turning it into a heavy stew.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
bonito del norte or albacore tuna steaks
Quantity
650g
skinless, boneless, cut into 4cm chunks
waxy potatoes
Quantity
900g
peeled and cracked into rough chunks
onion
Quantity
1 large
finely chopped
green pepper
Quantity
1
finely chopped
garlic
Quantity
2 cloves
minced
ripe tomatoes
Quantity
2
grated
choricero pepper paste
Quantity
2 tablespoons
or flesh from 3 soaked dried choricero peppers
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
80ml
dry white wine or txakoli
Quantity
120ml
fish stock or water
Quantity
900ml
bay leaf
Quantity
1
sweet pimentón
Quantity
1 teaspoon
salt
Quantity
to taste
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| bonito del norte or albacore tuna steaksskinless, boneless, cut into 4cm chunks | 650g |
| waxy potatoespeeled and cracked into rough chunks | 900g |
| onionfinely chopped | 1 large |
| green pepperfinely chopped | 1 |
| garlicminced | 2 cloves |
| ripe tomatoesgrated | 2 |
| choricero pepper pasteor flesh from 3 soaked dried choricero peppers | 2 tablespoons |
| extra virgin olive oil | 80ml |
| dry white wine or txakoli | 120ml |
| fish stock or water | 900ml |
| bay leaf | 1 |
| sweet pimentón | 1 teaspoon |
| salt | to taste |
| black pepper | to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide heavy pot or cazuela, 28 to 30cm
- •Sharp chef's knife
- •Box grater for the tomatoes
- •Wooden spoon
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the peppers
If using dried choricero peppers, soak them in hot water for 30 minutes, then split them open and scrape the soft flesh from the skins. Keep the paste and throw away the skins and seeds. If you have jarred choricero paste, measure it and move on; that shortcut costs the dish nothing.
No choricero peppers where you are? Use soaked ñoras and scrape them the same way. The flavour is rounder and less Basque-sharp, but it is the honest substitute a Spanish kitchen would reach for. - 2
Build the sofrito
Warm the olive oil in a wide heavy pot over medium-low heat. Add the onion, green pepper, and a good pinch of salt, and cook slowly for 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft, dark gold, and jammy. Add the garlic for one minute, then the grated tomato, and cook 8 to 10 minutes more until the water is gone and the oil begins to show at the edges.
- 3
Add pepper and wine
Stir in the choricero pepper paste and the pimentón, keeping the heat gentle so the pimentón smells sweet and never scorches. Pour in the wine or txakoli and let it bubble for 2 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pot. This base is where the broth gets its colour and depth.
- 4
Crack the potatoes
Hold each peeled potato over the pot, cut partway in with the knife, then snap the piece off so it breaks rough at the edge. Add all the cracked potatoes to the sofrito and turn them through the oil for 2 minutes. Pésalo, no lo adivines: the potato amount matters, because it is what thickens the broth.
- 5
Simmer the pot
Add the fish stock or water and the bay leaf. The liquid should just cover the potatoes; add a splash more if needed. Bring to a steady simmer, then cook uncovered for 25 to 30 minutes, shaking the pot now and then, until the potatoes are tender and their rough edges have begun to soften into the broth.
- 6
Add the bonito
Season the bonito chunks with salt and pepper. When the potatoes are tender, lower the heat until the pot barely moves, lay the fish into the broth, and cook 3 to 4 minutes, just until the pieces turn opaque at the edges but stay moist in the centre. Do not boil the bonito. Dry tuna is not a test of character, it's just dry tuna.
- 7
Rest and serve
Take the pot off the heat, cover it, and let it rest 5 minutes so the bonito finishes gently and the broth settles around the potatoes. Taste for salt. Serve in deep bowls with potato, fish, and red-gold broth in each one, and bread nearby because the bowl will ask for it.
Chef Tips
- •Buy bonito del norte in season if you can, firm, clean-smelling, and not dull at the edges. Far from the Basque coast, fresh albacore is the best stand-in; yellowfin works but cooks a little firmer, so cut it thick and stop early.
- •Break the potatoes, don't slice them. The rough broken edges release starch and thicken the broth without flour. This is the small thing that decides the dish.
- •Fish stock gives a deeper marmitako, but water is not a disgrace if the sofrito is cooked properly. A rushed sofrito gives you thin broth no stock can rescue.
- •Leftovers are good, but reheat them gently and stop as soon as the broth is hot. The bonito is already cooked, and a second hard boil will take the tenderness out of it.
Advance Preparation
- •The choricero peppers can be soaked and scraped up to 2 days ahead; keep the paste covered in the refrigerator with a thin film of olive oil.
- •The sofrito can be cooked a day ahead and chilled. Bring it back to a gentle heat before adding the potatoes.
- •Cut the bonito only just before cooking if you can. Salt it when the potatoes are ready, not hours before, so it stays firm and juicy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 500g)
Calories
510 calories
Total Fat
22 g
Saturated Fat
3 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
18 g
Cholesterol
45 mg
Sodium
640 mg
Total Carbohydrates
38 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
6 g
Protein
34 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Fish & Seafood Soups & Pots
Browse the full collection
Chef Isabel
All i Pebre d'Anguila
All i pebre is Valencian marsh-country spoon food: eel, garlic, sweet pimentón, and cracked potatoes cooked in water until the starch and picada turn the broth glossy and deep red.
Chef Isabel
Borrida de Rajada Mallorquina
Borrida de rajada is Mallorca's Lenten skate stew: tender ray, potatoes, and a light broth made rich at the end with a picada of fried almonds and hard-boiled egg yolk.
Chef Isabel
Bullit de Peix Eivissenc
Bullit de Peix is Ibiza's fisherman's meal in two turns: firm white fish and potatoes lifted from a saffron broth with allioli, then short rice cooked in that same broth until dry.